Virtual Roller Derby, Is The New Roller Champions Game Up To Derby?
When doing some virtual roller derby keyword research for an article I came across a new trending keyword “roller champions” and I thought I had better check it out! It turns out, Ubisoft has been developing a new computer game. Not based purely on anyone existing sport but incorporating several sports together. It is sort of a Virtual Roller Derby Have you ever tried to explain what derby is and ended up saying “its rugby on skates!”? Well, that’s what roller champions look like to me?
What is this ball thing?
If you haven’t noticed, roller derby has balls, but no ball! Roller champions introduce the use of a ball into the rink! My head just exploded! Have you ever tried to explain what derby is and ended up saying “its rugby on skates!”? Well, that’s what roller champs looked like to me?
Roller Derby Champions Trailer
But could we learn something from this E-sport all be it in development?
What can roller derby teams do to improve in lockdown?
It occurred to me there is no reason why you could not use this game as a virtual derby tactics platform. Imagine when you can’t practice because its the holidays or there is a pandemic and the venue is shut. Zoom call anyone?… NAH! What about Discord and game environment with a bit of bashy bash with the team?
A Virtual Roller Derby environment to develop our game Strategy?
Now the Closed Alpha stage of testing has closed for roller champions but the Beta is due! I really want to get a look to see if this is a feasible tool for us Derbs! This could be another way for us to focus our heads on what we do in a game. Without having to replay a game video we can see the effect of losing your cool in real-time without losing our ranking! Without losing a game you can see how to form that wall better to stop those damn jukey jammers! with development, you could even start thinking about an augmented reality version! Oh, that sounds like the future!
Ok, so it is not a current solution but is it time we brought roller derby training into the 21st century? Could this be a new community that might grow interested in our sport? I think it is worth a look!
When I get the chance I will see if we can get some contact with Ubisoft and the Dev team. Until then you can check out roller champions here https://roller-champions.ubisoft.com/game/en-us/
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Originally published at https://rollerderbynews.com on November 27, 2020.
